Dainese, the historic Italian brand of protective sportswear, passes into the hands of the Bahrain private equity fund InvestCorp, which, assisted in the operation by Mediobanca, acquired 80% of the Veneto company, beating the competitors of LCapital and Searchlight Capital Partners. The price of the operation is around 130 million euro.
He wanted to go out with Lino Dainese style and trying to grow his company without settling for leadership in Italy. From his words it seems to have succeeded. “I felt satisfied with what I had done: taking the company beyond the crisis period. So I asked Federico Minoli to let me go out in style, at the right time, finding a partner for the growth of the company”, explains the founder of the company who will remain within Dainese but without roles of responsibility.
Ma Linen Dainese does not stop and announces that it has already started again with a new adventure always in partnership with InvestCorp. "I will devote myself to pure research, thanks to another D-air Lab company", says Dainese again, explaining that D-water, 80% owned by Dainese itself and 20% by Investcorp, will be a sort of workshop where innovation will be made.
The goals are ambitious and are not limited to just the world of motorcycling because the technologies that will be created within D-air can also be applied in new sectors such as the military. the automotive, shipbuilding and healthcare sectors for the elderly.
Lino Dainese leaves his historic company to the InvestCorp group with a turnover that grew by 2013% in 10 reaching 117 million and with an estimate for 2014 that is around 128/130 million. To the InvestCorp fund, in particular, he bequeaths a 2014 order collection increased year on year by 25%.
“Many will not understand my choice. But the question I asked myself is: is it better to remain the first in the village or to launch the company internationally with a financial partner? With this operation I have the guarantee that my workshop can have a future”, assures Lino Dainese.
